


INVADER ZIM: DARK WATERS

by SkipBack



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Other, don't judge the irken, he just thinks it makes him look official okay, he's not that old but i still wanna call him that, i don't have a problem with zadr, i just want a zadf fic, i should stop making stupid tags now but, old man dibbers, random tag updates, zadf all the way baby, zim in a bow tie for some reason
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:34:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24119590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkipBack/pseuds/SkipBack
Summary: After a long,LONGhiatus after nearly DESTROYING the backwater planet of Earth, Zim is back - again! But now things are very,verydifferent to what the Irken remembers. For one thing? His old nemesis Dib is not the big-headed boy of years past anymore.With an odd budding friendship forming, Zim is going to have to deal with the new changes that the filthy, putrid planet of Earth has to throw his way... and Dib is going to have to make some adjustments to his life, seeing that Zim has made it clear that he's notevergoing away again.But little do either of them realize, something is coming... and it might be coming for Zim.An Invader Zim AU.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 9





	1. TEST CHAPTER

_'Tis merely a test chapter for my AU Dark Waters. Please do not bash or harrass me for its existence if you don't like it or if it makes you uncomfortable; I was literally up all night TWICE IN A ROW working on this AU and its true storyline. Depending on the responses to this test chapter and the concept idea for this idea, I may actually make Dark Waters a semi-regulary thing._

_also i've been in a huge zadf mood lately so there's that—_

\- <~<<>>~> \- 

If Zim were to be completely honest, he wasn't quite sure why Dib was keeping him around. 

Zim hadn't seen the likes of the Earthling in over some odd years, what with Zim's sudden "hiatus" and Dib quite suddenly moving away from the city when he was old enough. Although now, the human was back in town and seemed to be hundred percent certain that Zim wasn't a threat to the Earth anymore. HIS ASSUMPTIONS. Just because Zim was taking an incredibly long break from trying to destroy it or making any schemes of any kind, doesn't mean he wasn't going to try again at SOME POINT. 

Although really, Zim wasn't sure he was all in favor with this version of Dib. First of all, he was... well, not a short twiggy Earth boy now. He still donned a long, dark coat though it had interesting red stripes near the shoulders; dark pants, unnecessarily tall boots... the usual, familiar attire Zim would expect from Dib. But it was also different in a way that Zim just didn't have the words to describe, in Irken or in English (or even other languages Zim knew, like the slight bit of French he had randomly picked up). 

Not to mention how much Dib's personality had seemed to sour. 

For the past few days, Dib had seemed to only grow more increasingly angrier, though Zim could not possibly understand the reason why. Sure, it was true that their... ah, most recent greeting after not seeing each other for years had not been so... warm or friendly, but Dib hadn't really spoken much to him, choosing to frequently ignore him (all he ever offered was a little grunt every now and again; he just seemed so cold and unlike the Dib Zim was familiar with; he just couldn't believe they were the same human). That was probably the true reason he didn't visit that often; being ignored by someone he knew had given him so much attention felt off. He felt invisible and weird and he ABSOLUTELY did NOT like that AT ALL. 

Why Dib had let Zim into his house with was beyond anything he could possibly fathom. It wasn't that Zim didn't still live at his place by the cul-de-sac; Dib just... let Zim randomly come inside to see what he was up to. At almost any time. Zim had chosen to never stay long; somehow, he could just feel some odd resentment radiating of the smelly human, even if he knew that Dib had written him off as non-threatening, despite... well... _everything_. 

Of course, Zim eventually managed to pinpoint the source of Dib's odd, quiet anger one faithful day. 

At this point, the former Irken Invader was starting to get used to this... being-there-but-not-actually-there feeling. And as to be expected, the Dib was too busy being absorbed in his own world not to notice Zim. Normally, he'd running be all over the place, only acknowledging his "spawn" (who in their right mind had allowed Dib to _reproduce_?) but almost never Zim. Today, as he recalled, was one of those "skool days" that he faintly remembered from a more nostalgic time; the little Earth girl was not here, and Dib was just... there. 

At the table in the kitchen, doing... something. On his laptop (it appeared he still used the one he used to carry around a lot, way back when), a hand pressing his large, odd cowlick to the top of his head. He was still wearing that new look of his, the one where he was seemingly doing a spot on impression of his sister Gazlene by accident. It was a look that Zim decidingly did not like. It was just so... not like the Dib he remembered. 

All Dib did was peer up from his laptop, grunt like he decided he didn't have enough of that coffee-drink in him to give Zim a semi-proper greeting, and then look back down at what he was doing. 

Just that. No jumping up from his seat, or demanding what the almighty Zim was doing in his presence in that I'm-totally-suspicious-of-you-right-now tone of his, or even as much as him snarling Zim's name in hatred. 

Just... a look and a grunt. 

It seemed to just be a normal response to Zim at this point; after his hiatus, Zim hadn't heard Dib say a word in his totally-not-scary-at-all voice. Zim had known Dib's voice would change, but by _Irk_... it had been jarring to hear, seeing as Dib's voice had been annoyingly grating when he was an Earth child. 

Zim just found it easier to tally off any subtle differences from his last visit; for today, it seemed as though the Dib had just set up a little temporary office in the kitchen, strewing paperwork across the table and a discarded coffee-drink mug dutifully sitting beside him. Dib was now expertfully using both hands to type, faster than Zim would have thought possible. Though there were those occasional pauses where he'd stop to roll his shoulders, and it took nearly twenty times for Zim to realize that something was actually ailing his old nemesis. 

Unnoticed by Dib, Zim came up behind the human to try to see what was going on with him; Dib's muscles seemed tense and stiff, his shoulders raised and his back slightly hunched. Zim had a theory, and though it was unfounded, he was still willing to see if this worked or not. Maybe it would help lighten that angry air floating around Dib, so who really knew? 

Dib gave a sharp cry of pain and alarm as Zim reached out and pressed a spot just below his shoulderblades as hard as he could, digging into the human's back with the heel of his palm until both of them heard an audible crack from his spine. 

"HEY, WHOA, OKAY." With that, Dib was suddenly on his feet, whirled around and training a fierce glare at Zim, seething; though Zim had only acquired some height (thanks to Earth's gravity, of course), he only came to Dib's shoulders. Zim involuntarily shrank back. "WHAT the heck was THAT all about, huh? I practically just _let_ you waltz into my home... and... you... you... wait... hold on." 

Dib abruptly rolled his shoulders, a look of utter disbelief and curiosity on his face. It was a few shoulder rolls and stretches that seemed to confirm everything for him. "I — you — what..." he said. "H-how did you know to do that?" 

"It's just some old trick we Irkens use if our PAKs are being a strain on our backs," Zim said. "I didn't realize it worked so well on humans! Very interesting, yes?" 

Indeed it did work as well as he claimed; Dib seemed to be able to stand taller, his shoulders noticably slumped now that the kink in his back had been worked out. And, interestingly enough, Dib's expression had relaxed and significantly softened, now that it wasn't contorted in a painfully angry expression. So Dib wasn't weirdly quietly angry after all? Other than the obvious Dib-talking-to-Zim-again-though-surprisingly-in-a-very-casual-manner thing, it felt good to know that the Dib he hated was still in there. 

"So that was it, eh?" Zim inquired. 

In the silence of the pause in their conversation, Dib had held out his arms and leaned back to look up at the ceiling as though praising some weird human gods; another test on his back, clearly. "Ehb — what?" 

_Still one to make funny little noises, I see,_ Zim thought to himself, the irony lost on him. "Your back," Zim said. "Do you not remember what Zim did for you just seconds ago, or is your filthy human brain starting to fail you as well?" 

" _I—_ " Dib started indignantly. "NO. No, no it's not failing me." He was about to go on about how it was surprisingly still holding up, but Zim had started giving him a rather theatrically puzzled look, his eyes narrowing and a two-fingered hand on his chin. "...what?" 

"Your head," Zim said. Dib instinctively bristled, but Zim went on. "I just noticed, but it seems smaller than usual! Did it shrink?" 

"I guess you could say that," Dib said. 

"Interesting!" Zim said. "I don't like it. Go back to having a big head." 

"It wasn—" 

"YOU ARE NOT MEANT TO HAVE A SMALL HEAD IT IS ACTUALLY SCARING ZIM HOW DOES YOUR BRAIN EVEN FIT IN THERE ANYMORE?" He all said in one rush, and not even he was sure where each sentence ended. 

"Have you considered it might be my body than my head that changed?" 

Zim paused, looking Dib over. He had to admit, Dib almost looked like a barrel with arms and legs... kind of like his dad. Zim would never admit it, but it actually made Dib a little menacing to look at. In the end, Zim decided to go with: "So you're fat, then? Just not in a disgusting way where you get stuck in a—" 

"I'm going to have to stop you right there," Dib said, thrusting a finger in Zim's face. "First of all, I prefer the term 'generously proportionate'. Second of all, I don't ever want to remember that incident ever again! And third of all, WHAT is it with you people and the size of my head? First it's too big, and now it's too small!" 

"So you admit it WAS big!" 

"I did not say that." 

"IT WAS IMPLIED, AND YOU CANNOT CHANGE MY MIND. ZIM IS CORRECT ON THIS!" 

"Christ on a stick, I just remembered why I hate having conversations with you." 

"But you cannot deny it is fun to yell at someone, yes?" Zim asked, raising a brow. 

"Oh, you want to see yelling? I can give you yelling," Dib said, his tone deathly serious. "Don't test me. You don't want to see me yell." 

"Are yOU CHALLENGING THE GREAT ALMIGHTY _ZIIIIIIIIM_?" 

Dib dramatically threw his arms to the sides. "I ACTUALLY DON'T KNOW! YOU TELL ME!" 

There was a sudden pause in the conversation that lasted for an uncomfortable tick. 

The duo eventually exchanged a look with one another... and burst out laughing. 

"You..." Dib started, and laughed again. "You know what? I missed this." 

"I second that!" Zim agreed. 

Dib ran a hand through his hair, his cowlick flicking back upright. "Although.... know that I'm thinking about it, I have one question: Just where on Earth did you get a bow tie from?" 

\- <~<<>>~> \- 

_AUTHOR'S FACTS / NOTES_

_So I actually liked writing this test chapter of Dark Waters._

_I just really like the idea of after probably twenty or thirty years of not speaking to each other... y'know, once Dib realizes Zim's done with trying to conquer Earth for real (though he's denying it and treating it like it's some incredibly, terribly long break from scheming)... well, their relationship is like old rivals who aren't really rivals anymore joking about the whole thing._

_This whole chapter just reeks of: "Haha, yes, we were so stupid, let's just yell at each other and become frienemies."_

_And yes. I have truly, honestly once described Professor Membrane as a barrel with arms and legs prior to making this AU. I'm not sure why I think that, but it's just... it's just how he looks in the movie, alright? Maybe a thin barrel, but still a barrel. PROFESSOR BARREL._

_ANYWAY, if anyone has any questions about Dark Waters, feel free to ask! Some of the answers may be vague and others kept hidden, but other than that, I'll try to be as honest and as open as I can about this stuff! After all, it won't do the true storyline behind Dark Waters any good if I throw some serious spoiler territory around willy-nilly, now can I?_

_That means that the next chapter is actually the honest-to-god, real story of Dark Waters is up next! Stay tuned to see how Dib reacted to his nemesis returning!_

_Oh, and that thing Dib was doing? Where he held out his arms and looked at the sky? He was totally, unintentionally praising the sun.I have no idea where that's from (I saw it in a SFM by a British YouTuber who's name is Harry), but yeah. PRAISE THE SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU—_


	2. THE COMING OF DOOM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jeez, i had no idea i could write a chapter so fast

_"I want you to bring his corpse to me."_

" _And if he's alive?"_

_"Then bring him to me alive. Dead men are terrible conversationalists anyhow. I trust you will not fail me?"_

_"Of course not, ma'am... I never do fail you."_

\- <~<<>>~> \- 

It was quiet. 

The night sky was a rich, deep purple, black clouds beginning to form in the sky. People were having dinner, heading out to have a night out on the town, or even heading off to bed. 

Well, most people. 

One being was standing out in the lawn of a green and purple house on the cul-de-sac. Anyone who had brains between their ears would realize that this person, appearing to be not quite a child nor an adult, was not actually human; green skin, no ears, or even a nose, it should be easy to tell that he were alien. But nay, no one had seen through this terrible disguise, though in the beginning, there had only been one who could see through it, but they had not been successful to get everyone around them to realize that he wasn't human, too. 

The alien in question was waiting. He knew that if he stood and waited long enough, the human he was waiting for would come to him; he'd done this once before many Earth years ago, though now that decades had passed, he was almost worried what condition they were in. Almost. 

It wasn't long before a tall figure shrouded in darkness appeared. The alien could see eyes snapping open, seemingly blank orbs of nothing. 

" _Ziiiiiiiiim..._ " 

The Irken's blood chilled and his spooch almost froze, his mind instantly going blank. That tone was familiar, but the voice had grown deeper, colder and admittedly menacing now. The tall figure lumbered into the light, glaring down at him with enough venom to kill everyone on Irk and its colonies forty times over. 

Zim tried to shake his terror off, berating himself for feeling so frightened. "AHAHA! I—" He paused. "Wait... sorry, scary-tall-human! You must run along now, I'm waiting for the Dib t—" 

"I _am_ Dib," the human almost snarled. 

Zim's spooch shrank, shivers of terror running up his spine. "Oh," he said. He shook his head, pushing his fear down again. "I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU, DIB!" 

"I thought you were dead, _Zim,_ " Dib said. "I was hoping I'd never have to see you again, but I guess I thought wrong." 

"NOTHING can kill ZIM!" Zim announced. "Although My Tallest very much believe I'm dead!" 

Zim explained his plan to the human — once he realized he actually rather liked the Earth (along with finding out he'd never been recoded to be an Invader), he devised a plan to never be seen by the Empire ever again! The first part of his plan involved calling The Tallest a bunch of times; first, he announced he may have caught some sort of Earth-virus, but assured them it would blow over. A week later, he called again to tell them it seemed to be getting worse, but he was totally fine, don't worry! Another week passed, and he called to make nothing but dry heaving sounds! 

And then he was free! Though that meant hiding for some odd years getting cabin fever just in case the Armada came looking for him, but now he was sure it had worked! 

"Really?" Dib's tone was skeptical. "You really expect me to believe that?" 

"Oh, but it is very true... Dibstink!" He pulled that old insult out from the back of his mind. "I hate to say it, but you have won by default!" 

There was a rumbling noise from the back of Dib's throat as he crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing. Zim began to wonder what happened to Dib that made him so... _dark and terrifying_. "I'm watching you, Zim. Try anything funny, and I will hurt you." 

"Eh! You are Gazlene's brother, after all!" Zim commented. "But do n—" 

"He's _real?_ " a small voice piped up. That was a new voice Zim had never heard before; Dib's head snapped up, his eyes widening. 

To Zim's right, further down the sidewalk, was a small Earth girl in a pink sweater with purple hair so dark it was almost black, some of it curled up in a cowlick similar to Dib's. She was staring right at Zim, her eyes widened in shock and awe and stupid surprise. Surely she couldn't see through his amazing disguise... 

" _Tia,_ " Dib hissed, urgently glancing at Zim and then back at her. "What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to stay put?" 

The girl broke out of her daze, sheepishly scuffing the sidewalk with the toe of her shoe. "I... I just wanted to see where you were going," she admitted. "Sorry, Dad. It won't happen again, I promise." 

" _DAD?!_ " Zim whirled around on Dib, his eyes almost popping out of his head. "YOU? A CHILD? EXCUSE ME, _WHAT?_ " 

There that rumbling noise was, throaty and almost a growl. "Shut up," Dib said. 

"I WILL NOT! I have several questions, Dib!" Zim said. "SEVERAL QUESTIONS!" 

"None of which will be answered." The way Dib said it made the Irken's spooch almost stop for the second time. "The past thirty years have been the best years in my entire life, Zim. _I will not have you ruin that for me._ " 

"So that _is_ him," Tia said to herself. "I can't believe it... he's not just a story after all." She looked to Dib. "What kind of alien is he again?" 

"EH!" Zim bristled, old instincts coursing through his veins. "I'm not an alien! I'm normal!" He should have expected that Dib would have passed his cleverness to his daughter. 

"Ugh." Dib reached up to one of his temples, rubbing his head. "You know what? I'm done. _I'm done._ This was a waste of my time." He walked off in the direction of his daughter. "I have to contact Agent Snowflake to make sure he didn't get himself killed, anyway. C'mon, Tia." He allowed the child to take his hand. 

"WAAAAAAAAAAAIT!" The humans didn't stop. "Does the child have a mother? Who is she?" 

Dib froze. 

"She..." His voice hitched, the word catching in his throat. "She's.... _sh-she_..." He sounded as though he was on the verge of breaking down and sobbing, his shoulders shaking uncontrollably. Tia looked expectantly up at her father, but he cleared his throat and got his shaking under control, glancing back at Zim with a scowl. "Good night, _Zim_." 

The two humans continued on their way, Zim staring off at them with a puzzled look on his face. 

He was curious as to why Dib had responded to the question the way he had. 

\- <~<<>>~> \- 

"So... that was Zim, right?" 

"Unforunately." 

"I just can't believe he's real... I thought he was just a bedtime story!" 

"Of _course_ he's real. I'd be crazy if he wasn't." 

"I just thought he was some character you made up..." 

Dib met his daughter's eyes. "Tia, almost every weird thing I say is true." 

" _Vampire donuts are real?_ " Tia shuddered. 

Dib scratched his cheek. "Well, not too sure about that one, Tee," he admitted. "No one's ever seen one up close... but y'know, they could be out there, somewhere." 

"Oh _no_." Tia stared off in horror, as though the idea of the dreaded vampire donuts being a possibility scared her beyond words. Dib withheld the urge to laugh, pushing the door to their home open. Tia immediately headed upstairs without another word. 

Way before Tia was born, he'd expected his idea of color the walls should be to be protested, so he had been surprised that the majority of the house had been allowed to be pale electric blue. That meant he'd had no say in the obnoxious lime green walls in the kitchen, of course, but he didn't have the heart to paint over them after what happened to— 

Dib slammed a wall down over that thought. _Great going, Zim. Now I'm probably not going to stop thinking about it for the next half hour._

Sighing, he pulled back the sleeve of his coat. After dialing who he was looking for, he waited before a small ginger boy in red glasses appeared on the screen of his watch. Dib could spy trees behind the boy, so he had the feeling the kid was near the forest somewhere. The ginger's eyes widened with alarm once he saw who was calling him. 

" _GAH! Agent Mothman, sir!_ " The boy cleared his throat, clearly trying to regain his composure. " _I-I, uh... I didn't expect you to call back so soon._ " 

"It was a false alarm," Dib said. "Did you find anything?" 

The boy pushed the mop of orange hair in his face out of his eyes. " _Uh... n-no, sir! Nothing at all, sir! I, uh... I think whatever it was fled into the forest and died somewhere. Sir._ " 

"Agent Snowflake, you don't have to say _sir_ so many times," Dib told the boy, sighing. "It's giving me a headache." (Actually, it was worsening the headache he'd already gotten interacting with Zim for the first time in thirty years, but he wasn't about to tell Agent Snowflake that.) 

" _Right, yes, sorry s— uh, Agent Mothman._ " He awkwardly glanced around, sweat pouring down his forehead. There was a loud wolf howl in the background, and the boy gulped. " _Sh-should I go home now? It's really super dark over here, and I think I may have just heard a werewolf._ " 

"I'm not stopping you," Dib said. 

" _Alright! Cool, b—!_ " The boy hung up. Seconds later, Dib heard the door being flung open behind him. 

"A _HA!_ I KNOW WHERE YOU _oop—_ " He heard the door smack the intruder, most likely in the face. "Filthy Earth door! _Egh!_ I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE NOW, DIBWORM!" 

Dib looked over his shoulder to see Zim, pointing dramatically at him, his arm shaking. "And do you feel accomplished by that?" Dib asked, raising his eyebrows. 

Zim puffed out his chest, looking thoroughly impressed with himself. "As a matter of fact, I do!" 

" _Greeeeeeaaaaat_ ," Dib said, his teeth grit. "Now get out of my house." 

"YOU dare tell ZIM what to—" Zim cut himself off at Dib's glare. "FIIIIIIINE. But not because you told me to." 

"Yeah, whatever," Dib said. "Buh-bye now." 

Zim squinted at him, a puzzled look on his face. He slowly backed out the door, watching Dib's face before closing it. Dib saw the Irken peer into the window, his puzzled expression only intensifying before he eventually left. 

\- <~<<>>~> \- 

_"I'm here, ma'am."_

_"And?"_

_"I haven't found him yet."_

_A sigh. "Well, it's good to see you're alive."_

_"Barely."_

_"Barely? What do you mean by that?"_

_"Unforunately, the controls wouldn't respond once we got to the planet. There was some difficulty landing, but my cruiser didn't fare as well as I did. I didn't take much damage, but my SIR is... well, it's unresponsive. Had to resort to fleeing on foot before it exploded and I was caught."_

_"Did anyone see you?"_

_"Negative... I think."_

_"You think?"_

_"Well, I can't be certain. I had to get out of there as fast as I could, and only some of my equipment fared; the rest I had to leave behind. Seeing as my SIR didn't fare too well either, I have no idea what the habitants of this planet look like or what is considered to be normal to them, so all I can do is hope that I can find some place to hide before I'm caught and potientally killed."_

_"EERRRRRRGH, I knew I shouldn't have sent you! I had a feeling I should have sent someone else! Now you're stuck there! You're far too important to lose!"_

_"Important to who? As an Invader, I'm willing to put my life on the line, ma'am. I'm one of many. I'm expendable."_

_"One of many, yes, but not like any of them. You're... different. I know I can normally count on you, but this time? I'm afraid this might the end of your career."_

_"If it is, then I'm honored to have lived under your rule, My—"_

_"I'm going to shove a squak up your shmoopsquizz if you keep talking like that. Alright... try to hold on for as long as you can. Planning on sending someone to aid you."_

_"Ma'am, that's not n—"_

_"Lalala! I can't hear you! I'm sending help because I can!"_

_A sigh. "Right... I'll await whatever aid you can send, ma'am. Signing out."_

\- <~<<>>~> \- 

_AUTHOR'S NOTES / FACTS_

_yeah, the test chapter is a lil' outdated because i wrote it and then spent two days working on a real plot, but real talk here._

_Dib is a serious mood to write at times, but just because he's forty-two years old in this AU and he views Zim as some kind of power-crazed toddler half of the time. Having a daughter and then dealing with Agent Snowflake, and now dealing with Zim again... I bet he'd just like to smash his head into a wall and sleep for a week._

_On another note, I hope no one minds the fact I'm placing in original characters. Their true purpose in Dark Waters is to help move it along, so you shouldn't worry too much about them._

_And also, because I can and I have the know-how... here's a visual of Dib and Zim in the AU. Just felt like it, okay?_


End file.
